From Vader’s comments, one can also infer that Capel walked into a comparably difficult plug-and-play situation when he was hired. He had to assemble a team from scratch, and he got some good players. But without upper classmen, and a program culture or identity, it was difficult to create a team. Capel didn’t have depth for enforcement. We heard of players’ families complaining about player roles. Did we ever hear of anything like that with Howland/Dixon teams? Howland/Dixon teams had an identity of toughness because they drove the team to be physical, in a town with blue-collar Steeler mystique, with East Coast players. Many of our recruits themselves said they chose Pitt because the coaches told them straight up that they would have to earn their playing time, and they liked that idea. We had 4-star freshmen riding the bench when Pitt was Pitt.
Capel’s first recruiting class never came together. He got some top guys, and we thought he had done well to land them. But when we watched them, we didn’t see a lot of teamwork. Instead of watching a team beat a defense, we waited and hoped for one of the players to make a virtuoso play, or sometimes just to find and make a shot.
One can blame the coaches if one wants. But as talented as our leading players were as individuals, they never really clicked. With all their talent, Johnson and McGowens were not Knight or Krauser or Fields or Wanamaker. Capel didn’t have the depth or the bench to discipline them, yet one cannot blame them too much because they didn’t have enough support. We argued a lot but we never could get a consensus as to whether they had to force themselves to make a play when no one else was in position, or whether they were making mistakes because they didn’t have a vision of their teammates or the defense. It didn't matter. They rarely if ever looked like some of the teams we are watching in the tournament, or the Howland/Dixon teams that would just strangle their opponents.
There are three points that make me hopeful. First, Capel has another chance to build a team with new players. Maybe this time he will be luckier. He will have support from the players who are returning. It is difficult to know how much because we only had a few games to see them play together, and they may not be able to dominate the newcomers. But they are a foundation with some potential, and with a new bunch of players transferring in, Capel has a chance for a fresh start. Second, college athletes are temporary. No matter how they leave, they always leave, and then they are replaced. A lot of young men move through the program, and a lot of them don’t work out. It’s disappointing but it’s normal. My friends at Duke told me from the first that Capel would get athletes. If Pitt doesn’t have a name again, Capel still has a name, and it still means something for a player to say he is playing for Jeff Capel. Third, watching the tournament, we are seeing lower seeded teams beat bigger and better teams by outplaying them, And we are seeing how many great players there are in the country. A thousand players in the portal? Great! I see increased activity on the Board. It appears that people are getting excited just thinking that next year Pitt will have a new team.
